A Mess of Misunderstandings
by BitterLilyz
Summary: In this new life, Levi and Eren had been desperately searching for each other for as long as they could remember. They lived so close yet never crossed paths until Eren's first day of high school, but their long awaited meeting doesn't go the way either of them planned. Reincarnation AU. LevixFem!Eren. (SHORT STORY!)
1. Chapter 1

There was so much blood surrounding the boy's body it was almost impossible to find the wound that was causing it. Red stained his tattered uniform and broken maneuvering gear. Bruises left discolored patches all over his tanned skin and his once bright blue-green eyes were glazed over with tears of pain and sorrow. He used to be so determined and full of life and now he was simply waiting to die.

The mission had been going just as they planned but an unexpected turn of events led to a rampage of hungry titans trapping the Survey Corp in the Forest of Giant Trees. The attack was so abrupt many of the soldiers were slaughtered within the first few minutes, while some of the top fighters were struggling to stay alive.

During this mayhem, Corporal Levi had quickly given the order for Eren to transform. After years of training, the titan shifter had finally managed to gain control over his inner monster and was able to use it without worry.

Eren's hopes had remained high until a sudden onslaught of titans overpowered him. Levi tried to swoop in a save him, but with the number of titans around Eren's titan body growing, he couldn't get anywhere near the boy. He was desperate to get the brunette back, but he knew he couldn't do it anytime soon. Instead, he ordered the others in the squad to help as they tackled the titan's devouring Eren's body. All they could do was hopefully thin out the numbers and save Eren.

Sadly, all their efforts would be in vain, because just as they got closer to center of the chaos, one of the mindless giants slammed their meaty fist against Eren's titan neck. It ripped out Eren's human body and flung it around lifelessly before slamming him to the ground. The bastard wanted to play with him instead of eat him.

This was how Eren ended up lying face down in the grass, bleeding and bruised. He was barely conscious enough to see his comrades fighting and dying around him. His vision was too hazy to make out any details but he could see enough to know they were losing. They were all going to die out here. The only upside about the situation was that the titans were too distracted by his comrades to care about finishing him off. Or they thought he was already dead.

Eren was about to let the numbness of death take over when a figure suddenly swooped down next to him and stumbled to its knees next to his head. Eren's dull eyes moved high enough to catch the figure's face and he wasn't at all surprised to see his Corporal leaning over him. What did surprise him was how severely beaten the invincible man was.

Blood smeared across his alabaster skin and draped his uniform in a layer of scarlet. His usually neat, black hair was disheveled to hell and one of his steely gray eyes was already sealing over with a dark purple hue. One of his hands was clutching at his injured side while the other placed a surprisingly gentle hand on Eren's shoulder.

"Eren? Eren!?" Levi yelled over him, carefully shaking his shoulder. "Dammit, brat, don't you dare die on me!"

Eren stopped focusing on the pain and stared intently at one of the few people he loved deeply. In his few years of knowing the Corporal he had never seen him so panicked and terrified. He'd never been like this, not even when his first squad was taken out. It just wasn't normal for him to lose his cool, yet here he was, practically crying over Eren's slowly dying body.

"I swear to whatever god is out there, if you give up, I'll drag you back from hell and kick your ass!" he snarled, trying to hide his fear and anguish with rage. Ignoring his own wounds, Levi grabbed up Eren's motionless body and awkwardly flew up to one of the thick branches that hung above them, dodging grabby titan hands as they went. Once they had settled in the trees, Levi kneeled down with Eren in his lap, cradling him close and trying to stanch the bleeding.

Eren weakly raised his hand and placed it on Levi's, halting his shaky attempt at saving the boy's life.

"I think…it's a bit late for that…Corporal," he gasped, sucking in short, shallow breaths. "You need to…leave me…save yourself…help the others…"

"Like hell I'm doing that!" Levi snapped. The Corporal quickly ripped off his cravat and tied it around Eren's waist to stop his wound, but the damage was already done. Eren had lost too much blood to be saved.

"You're not leaving me…you're not fucking leaving me," Levi hissed under his breath as he worked. His own injuries were starting to affect him, but he'd be damned if he was going to let Eren die.

"Levi…stop…please…" Eren managed to whisper. His vision was fading and knew his end was closing in quickly, but he had to get his lover away from the dangerous place and back to safety. "We both…can't die here. Humanity needs…at least one of us." Eren coughed roughly as the words left him. "Please, Levi…for me…"

Levi stopped his frantic movements and stared into Eren's gorgeous eyes; even on the brink of death they didn't lose their beauty. His resolve and anger started to crumple at hearing the brunette's pleading words. He couldn't do it though, he wouldn't leave the only person he held any true love for, especially not like this. Levi knew Eren was dying, he could accept that much, but that didn't mean he was dying alone.

Eren tried to talk again, but Levi shushed him and pulled him closer to his chest, while he leaned back against the rough bark. Below them, titans were gathering at the base of the tree, but they were simply ignored by the dying couple.

"You're staying with me, got it, Jaeger? Even if we have to go together," Levi whispered to him.

"No! Levi, you ca—." Eren's sentence was caught off by a violent coughing fit that sent blood spluttering out of his mouth.

"Stop talking, stupid brat. I've already made my decision," Levi said, wiping the blood off Eren's mouth. His face was blank but his cold eyes had softened considerably and hidden behind his emotionless demeanor was warm endearment. "I'm not leaving, and from what I can see, there's nothing you can do to make me."

Eren glared at his love, but couldn't hold the anger. Truthfully he was glad to have Levi there to hold him, as selfish as it was. Dying alone was definitely one of his fears. So instead of arguing with him, Eren snuggled closer to Levi, being careful of his ripped abdomen. The boy closed his eyes.

"Thanks…Levi…" Eren sighed, for once feeling completely safe outside the walls. There wasn't any pain or fear left in his tired body, the only things he could feel were Levi's strong arms around him and his gentle caress on the boy's cheek. His death was long and painful, but he wouldn't have wished for anything else.

"Love you…" the brunette muttered. "Good…bye…"

With those parting words, Eren Jaeger slumped in his lover's arms. Gone. His once warn, golden skin was pale and quickly cooling. With his eyes closed, the only vibrant color on his young body was the red splattered across him. Death was never pretty, but at the moment, Levi could still see the beautiful and driven soldier he'd grown to love.

"I love you too, Eren, but this isn't good bye. I promise I'll find you…I promise," Levi vowed, nuzzling his cheek against Eren's head. The raven gently placed his lips against the cooling lips of the boy in his arms. He's only regret was not giving Eren that kiss before he passed.

He'd been so distracted by his life crumbling apart that he didn't notice how truly terrible his wounds were. They were almost as bad as Eren's. He expected to feel the pain now, with the shock subsiding, but there was nothing. Nothing but a tired, dragging feeling.

"Guess I'll be joining you sooner than expected, brat," Levi chuckled to himself, holding tighter onto the corpse in his arms. He was surprisingly thankful that he didn't have to jam a sword in his chest or worse, jump into a titan's disgusting mouth. At least, this way, he could die with his lover, his Eren. It wasn't a bad way to go.

After all, this wasn't goodbye.

* * *

"Leeeviii? Earth to Leeeviii," Hanji complained, waving their hand in front the young man's already irritated face. He swiftly grabbed their hand and tossed it away, almost sending the erratic creature out of her seat.

"Shitty Four Eyes, keep your disgusting hands away from my face," Levi snapped, sending his glare towards them before going back to staring about the crowded lunch room.

"Well, what are you looking for!? You've been staring at the freshmen since we got here," Hanji replied, pouting.

It was Monday morning and first day back to school for Maria High. The cafeteria was packed with excited underclassmen and already-bored upperclassmen, all waiting for the bell to ring and release them into their torturous first classes. Levi and the rest of his senior friends were slouched around their usual table, chattering about their summer vacation like they hadn't just been hanging out last week.

"Hanji, leave him alone. He's doing the same thing he does every year since sixth grade, so I don't know why you keep asking," Erwin interrupted, looking up from his breakfast to scold his over-excited friend.

"Oooooh, I forgot it was the first day of school! Ha, sorry Levi, I'll let you get back to Eren-hunting," Hanji snickered, chewing loudly on their granola bar and earning a very hateful glare from the clean-freak.

"How about you keep your mouth shut when you're eating, Four Eyes," Levi growled, still keeping his eyes trained on the incoming high-schoolers.

"Levi, you've been looking for Eren since you got your memories back, but don't you think you've looked long enough?" Petra urged, as she slide closer to Levi. "I mean the chances of finding him among billions of people is slim to none, and who knows? Maybe he hasn't even been born yet?! The age gap could still be there."

Levi ignored her; he usually did when she started her speech. Yes, he had been actively searching since the memories of his old life came back to him, but as Petra was quick and happy to point out, his efforts so far had turned up nothing. Still he didn't let that get to him.

In his old life, the boy had been his guiding light, his small amount of fiery hope in a world of depressing darkness. He had dreams about the young man he loved, memories of their time together and the bond that seemed to grow stronger every day. It pained him to go so long without seeing those big, crystalline eyes that never failed to soften his tough exterior. He'd search through every inch of this huge planet to see those beautiful eyes again.

"Aw, don't listen to her, Big Bro! You'll find Eren!" Isabel cheered, snapping him out of his thoughts. She suddenly leaned in and mock whispered. "She's just jealous."

"Jealous?! How can I be jealous of someone I haven't met in this lifetime?" the redhead huffed, ignoring Isabel's snickering.

"You're jealous because Big Bro doesn't want to go out with you," she replied, sticking her tongue out at the smaller girl.

Petra's face turned bright red and her teeth ground together. To keep from lunging at the girl across from her, she stood up stiffly and left the table. Auruo was the only one to chase after her as she left the cafeteria. The rest didn't mind the confrontation. They'd all gotten much too use to Petra's obvious crush on Levi, and his very clear rejection of explaining to her that even if he didn't find Eren, he still preferred men over women, and therefore they wouldn't be together. This, of course, didn't stop Petra from trying.

"Hey! When you find him again, me and Farlan get to meet him first! You know, since we didn't get to last time," exclaimed Isabel, clearing up the tension with her bubbly personality.

Levi rolled his eyes and replied, "If I find him, that is."

"Oh, don't let Petra get you down, Levi. Of course you'll find him!" Hanji said, joining on the encouragement. "I mean, you ran into all of us, right? You just gotta be patient."

"For once, I agree with Hanji," Eld added. "You're still young, you know, just have some faith and patience."

"Two things we know the Corporal doesn't have," Gunther muttered teasingly. Everyone at the table snorted in laughter, all expect the shortest man, who was unimpressed.

"What have I said about calling me that? It's not 850, Gunther," Levi retorted.

"Sorry, force of habit," Gunther said, shrugging. They all slipped up sometimes, much to the confusion of anyone else not in the loop.

"We're just trying to cheer you up, Levi," Farlan said, finally adding into the conversation.

Levi was about to snap that he doesn't need any cheering up when his eyes focused on a table a few feet away. Two freshmen had sat down with their inedible school breakfast and Levi recognized them almost immediately, even if they weren't the one he was looking for.

Sitting only a couple tables away from Levi and his friends was a girl with short jet black hair and an expressionless face along with a smaller blond-haired boy with wide, innocent blue eyes. Levi instantly knew them to be Eren's adopted sister and best friend. He gaze left them for a moment to scan the room for the loud brunette but was disappointed when his search came up empty. Surely, if those two were here, then Eren couldn't be far. They had all be practically inseparable in their past lives.

Levi frowned and turned back to the other two. From where he sat and from the volume of chatter in the lunch room it was impossible to make out what they were saying, but their faces both expressed concern and suspicion. Levi's gun-metal gray eyes narrowed as he tried to read their lips but of course he couldn't make anything out.

"Yeesh, and I thought Levi was scary before…" Eld remarked, shuddering at Levi's expression, even though it was directed at someone else.

"What are you staring so hard at? You look like you're trying to make someone burst into flames with your eyes," Isabel asked, trying to follow his gaze. She didn't know the two students her brother was staring at but figured they were important. "Do you know those two?"

"Oh my _goodness,_ is that Mikasa and Armin?! Ha! She's even wearing that red scarf!" Hanji screeched, bouncing in their seat. Teenagers several tables away could hear the notoriously eccentric student's ungodly shrieking but luckily they were all to use to Hanji's personality to care. "Hey, where's Eren? Shouldn't he be with them?"

"Is Eren friends with those two?" Farlan asked, curiously.

"In our past lives, those three were glued to each other's sides most of the time," Erwin remarked. "That being said, it's strange to see only two of them. Maybe they haven't met Eren in this life yet?"

Levi growled at that statement, his mood sinking even lower than before.

"Hey, that girl kinda looks like Levi!" the pig-tailed girl laughed, completely unaffected by the raven's piercing eyes.

"Don't remind me," he replied, glaring at Eren's sister. The two of them had never gotten along, and that hated had only gotten worse when Levi and Eren came out with their relationship.

"Short stack, are you going to keep pouting or do you want to hear what they're saying?" Hanji said, smiling obnoxiously.

"Unless you have bat ears, which wouldn't surprise me in the slightest, how the hell do you plan to hear what their saying?" Levi glowered.

"I can't hear them, I'm not that much of a freak, but I can read their lips," explained Hanji. Without another word, they leaned forward and stared intently at Mikasa and Armin, eyes locked creepily on their lips.

The bell suddenly sounded from the speaker on the wall, causing many of them to jump, so engrossed in their conversations they hardly noticed it was time for class. Levi grabbed his heavy black bag and waited for Hanji to gather their things, which had somehow been scattered over the table. Normally, he would have contently left her in favor of walking in silence but he was desperate to hear any news about Eren, even if it was coming from his least favorite person. When they finally had their bag, the brunette ignored their short friend and followed the crowd.

After they all left the cafeteria and started rummaging through their lockers, Levi stopped Hanji and scowled.

"Oh right! You wanted to know what they said, yeah?" Four Eyes giggled, their creepy smile back in place.

"I'm losing my patience," Levi ground out, teeth mashing angrily. "Just tell me what they said, so I can stop listening to your god-awful voice."

"Aw, so mean! But I'll be a good person and tell you," said Hanji, cheerily. "I'm happy to say that you and Eren will be reunited soon enough! But sadly it might not be today. I couldn't get a lot of information because, damn, Mikasa's like a stone wall! You know how hard it is to read her lips when her face is barely moving! Not to mention her scarf kept getting the way—."

"Shitty Glasses, I could not care less about Mikasa's facial expressions, just tell me what they said about Eren!" Levi snapped, his hand itching to wrap around the brunette's throat.

"Sorry, sorry! Okay, so from what little I could understand, Eren slept in and might be late to school. Or he might decide to skip it and come tomorrow, depending on if his mother wakes him…"

Levi drowned out her rambling. He'd already heard what he wanted and for the first time in years, the raven was hopeful and excited, but he'd never show that on his stone face. He was going to see his old lover soon and just the thought alone gave him a warm feeling in his cold heart. Then his usual irritation came storming back.

"Of course that damn brat slept in, it'd be just like him to miss the first day of school," he grumbled, interrupting Hanji's retelling of whatever nonsense the two brats had been talking about after their Eren talk. "Damn inconsiderate asshole."

"Ha! I think you just described yourself!" Hanji laughed. They gave Levi a pat on the shoulder with their face drawn in mock sympathy. "Don't worry, shorty, worst case scenario, you have to wait 'til tomorrow to see him. This should be a good way for you to practice patience, right?"

"Whatever," Levi said, turning and leaving the mad creature to laugh insanely in the middle of the hall. To be honest, one day wasn't such a big deal to someone who had been waiting for almost seven years, but as said before, Levi was not a patient man. He could already tell it was going to be a long day.


	2. Chapter 2

**Boom, Bitches! Here is it second chapter of A Mess of Misunderstandings! Sorry for the wait, but I'm working on this while also doing another story, Project Titan: Subject Rogue, which you should totally check out ;D and I'm on vacation with my family. Lucky for you, I can't stand not writing for long periods of time, even on vacation! XD Hope you guys enjoy this chapter and reviews are very much appreciated, even if they're only a few words!**

* * *

"EREN JAEGER! You wake up this instant! And what have I said about locking this door?"

Eren groaned and rolled over, glancing at the alarm clock and sitting up in bed. The clock read 10:36 am.

"Shit," the rumpled teenager groaned, practically falling out of bed to open the door.

On the other side stood a very cross Carla Jaeger, glaring furiously and tapping her foot.

"Forget to set your alarm, hm?" she asked, hotly. "You're lucky I forgot my phone or you would have slept the entire day away! And on your first day of high school, no less!"

"Sorry, Mom, I think my alarm clocks broken," Eren yawned, stretching tiredly. "Since it's pretty late, should I even bother going to school?"

Those were definitely not the right words to say, because Carla's face only twisted in more rage.

"Oh no, you don't! You're going to school, whether you like it or not! It's your fault for sleeping in," she replied before swiftly turning on her heels and marching down the stairs, calling back, "You have fifteen minutes to get dressed and ready to go. I'll drive you on my back to work."

Eren groaned and slipped into the bathroom across the hall. After flushing the toilet, the teen faced the mirror and frowned at the reflection, clearly displeased by it.

There, standing in the reflective surface was a young lady in a wrinkled, plaid pajama set. Her chocolate brown locks hung down around her pretty face in messy, tangled knots and her bright turquoise eyes were drowsy and teary in the corners. The tanned skin around her nose wrinkled in distaste. Eren was never a morning person, even though it was closer to noon than morning.

"Ugh, how am I supposed to make this look good in fifteen minutes?" she asked her reflection, leaning forward to glare at herself. She was very tempted to just say fuck it and go with the bare minimum, but of course a little voice of reason had to butt in.

 _What if you see Levi today?_

The brunette sighed at her inner voice. She'd been looking and looking for Levi for as long as she could remember. The first memory she ever had of her past life had been about him. It had been during one of their training sessions together where Levi helped her (well him at the time) control his titan. He'd yelled at him but his voice was softer than when the Corporal ordered the others around. She remembered their love from that time, sneaking away from training to spend a few stolen moments together and keeping quiet in the night when Eren would unexpectedly visit, and the thought of getting back something so precious and rare always made her excited. If she saw him today, she definitely didn't want to look like a slob, especially if he was still a clean freak. That would not make a good impression.

There was the fear, of course. The fear that he wouldn't remember her, the fear that he wouldn't want her because she wasn't a boy anymore, those were always at the back of her mind. There was also the slight worry that the short-tempered Corporal would end up a girl as well, nothing was certain after all. Eren liked to think if that were to happen she would still accept Levi. She loved him (or her) and nothing, not even gender, was going to change that. She just hoped Levi felt the same.

With a huff of reignited determination, she quickly detangled the rat's nest on her head and scrubbed her face clean. After apply a light amount of make-up, she quickly braided two pieces of her bangs and tied them together in the back of her head.

Turning her head back and forth, she deemed herself ready enough to face school. Now, all she had to do was get dressed and grab her bag—

"Five minutes, Eren!" snapped her mother from the front room.

Jumping frantically back into her room, Eren rummaged through her closet and found one of the new school outfit's Mikasa had help her pick out. She quickly slipped on a lavender blouse and a short, simple brown-knit skirt that accented her long, olive-toned legs. Honestly, if it weren't for Mikasa, the poor, fashion-impaired girl would be arriving to school, not only late, but also dressed in ratty sweats and a band t-shirt. She liked being comfortable but her usual attire certainly wasn't a confidence booster, which is why she allowed her best friend to get her hands on her closet.

Before she could anger her mother anymore with her stalling, Eren grabbed up her flats and her paw-print backpack (the only thing Mikasa had allowed her to pick out for school) and quickly scrambled downstairs.

She nearly face planted on the last step while trying to pull her shoes on and her mother watched her with exasperated amusement.

"What on Earth am I going to do with you?" she sighed, hands on her hips and keys in hand. "Come on, then. You're already late enough."

Eren grumbled under her breath and followed her mother to the car. She and school did not have a good relationship. She didn't fully hate it, but she wasn't smart enough in her classes to actually enjoy it. Most of the time, Armin had to help out. Between Armin's tutoring and Mikasa's fashion advice, Eren really was lucky to have friend's like them.

"That shirt looks great on you! Let me guess, Mikasa picked it out?" Carla asked as she drove.

Eren snorted. "Of course she did. I'm too inept to pick out clothes that actually look good."

"Well, your closet of tank tops and old sweatpants would agree with you," Eren's mother replied teasingly. "At least you'll look decent on your first day, despite being late."

"I _told_ you, Mom, I think my clock broke because I know for a fact I set it last night!" Eren huffed, crossing her arms and glaring out the front window.

"Pouting isn't attractive, sweetie."

In response to that, Eren deepened her scowl. Carla rolled her eyes as she pulled in front of the school.

"Try to have a good day, honey," Mrs. Jaeger said, kissing her daughter's forehead, who promptly wiped it away.

"Mom! I'm not ten! I'll be fine, okay?" Eren said irritably, climbing out of the car.

"Don't forget to stop at the office and get your tardy slip!" Carla called.

Eren waved at her and hurriedly went inside to the office. The secretary gave her a pink note along with her school schedule and a very disapproving look but otherwise didn't remark.

Luckily, the girl was just in time for the end of third period, because the bell overhead rang out and the halls flooded with students. Eren moved with the current and tried to find the classroom for fourth period when she was suddenly knocked to the ground by a very solid form.

"Watch where you're going, brat," snapped a deep, smooth voice from over Eren.

Eren stood and dusted off her skirt. She lifted her head and was about to tell off the asshole who had knocked her over but froze when she saw his face.

There, standing in front of her, was the man she'd been looking for most of her life, quite literally. He looked exactly as she remembered, black hair styled in an undercut, sharp face cold and blank, and steel eyes that gave away nothing. Just seeing those eyes made Eren's knees weak and her heart flutter with nervous anticipation. She was so overcome with emotion she barely noticed his murderous glare.

"What are you staring at?" Levi growled. She simply gapped stupidly at him as he shoved past her and into one of the classrooms. Eren simply stared after him, shock, hurt, and disappointment all very evident on her face. Did he not recognize her? Did he even remember her?

"Eren!? Eren!" another voice suddenly rang out before a force hugged her from behind. She pulled away and saw her blonde best friend.

"O-oh, hey Armin," she said, looking back towards the door her love had walked through. Armin frowned at her disgruntled face.

"Hey, you okay? You aren't sick or anything right?"

Eren snapped out of her trance and back to the concerned blonde next to her. "N-no I'm not sick. Just a bit…Look don't worry about it, okay? We should probably get to class."

Armin blinked at that, clearly worried despite Eren's reassurance. The girl still looked crestfallen and her eyes were distant as she chewed her lower lip. He could already tell his best friend was close to tears.

"Seriously, Eren, what's wrong? We still got a couple minutes before class starts and you look like someone kicked a puppy," Armin said, brows furrowed. "Should I go find Mikasa? Maybe it'd be easier to talk to her…"

Eren flinched at the comment. Ever since he and Armin became friends again things weren't really the same between them, after all, Eren was female now and therefore couldn't go to her male friend for certain things. This caused a bit of a rift between the two but over the years they'd managed to still grow close, even if Eren had to rely more on Mikasa's advice than Armin's.

"No no, really Armin, it's nothing," Eren insisted, focusing on her schedule as a distraction. "Can you help me find my class by the way? This school is so confusing."

When she didn't get a reply, the brunette looked up and found her friend with his fists on his hips, the look on his face saying he wasn't letting the subject drop so soon.

Eren sighed in frustration. "Fine, I'll tell you, but later okay? I really just want to find my class before the bell rings."

Armin searched her face for any signs of deception, and when he found none he nodded and said, "Alright, but I'm holding you to that."

The girl nodded and followed the boy as he led her down the crowded hall towards her class, which he happen to have with her. The school wasn't huge and being freshmen they had classes all to themselves so most of them shared many classes together. Armin was a slightly special case with his advanced classes but even he only had a couple of those, the rest were normal freshmen courses.

The two friends made it just in time for the bell to ring and they took their seats. Mikasa had the class as well and Eren sat next to her, with Armin on his other side. Scanning the room, the brunette wasn't surprised to see a lot of her friend from middle school, all of them being friends from her past life as well.

"I'm surprised you came to school, Eren. I thought for sure you'd sleep through it," Mikasa teased, pulling out her history textbook and notebook.

"It was close," Eren replied. "Mom came back and woke me up. I think my alarm clocks broke or something."

"Or you just forgot to set it," Armin interrupted smugly, his previous suspicion forgotten for the moment.

"I know for a fact I didn't forget!" Eren said angrily, her temper flaring up.

"I thought I heard your hot head, Jaeger," sneered a voice from in front. Eren looked up and glared at her long time frienemy, Jean Kirstein, who was sat a few chairs up.

"Did I say you could butt into our conversation, horse-face? No? I didn't think so," snapped the brunette, glaring venomously.

"Jeez, first day of school and you're already picking fights," Jean snorted.

Eren rolled her eyes. Every fight she got into with Jean didn't end with a broken nose or a black eye like it did in the old days because for once Jean actually wanted to be a gentleman. He also did not want to be seen punching a girl because god knows the crap he'd get later for beating up a "poor defenseless" girl, though Eren was far from defenseless and could hold her own in a fight if need be. Once, Eren had tried to seriously get into a brawl with her old rival back in elementary school, but instead of fighting back, Jean simply took the punches until Eren was stopped by one of the teachers. Nowadays, the two were closer friends but there was always that undercurrent of competition.

"I wouldn't have to start a fight if you just turn around and mind your own damn business," Eren spat. Honestly, she wasn't angry at Jean, annoyed yes, but not angry. She was just looking for a distraction from the awful scene a few moments ago.

Instead of replying, Jean simple rolled his eyes and turned back to the front of the room. Eren smirked in victory as the bell rang for class to begin and their history teacher swept into the room.

"Welcome to Intro to History! My name is Mrs. Jones and for our first day of class I have a syllabus to go over first, and then I'd thought we'd spend the rest of class getting acquainted or reacquainted with each other!" Mrs. Jones said cheerily. She was a short, young woman with an athletic build, chin-length honey brown hair, and an aura that screamed peppy and active. Her casual appearance and hyper personality made her seem like one of the students instead of a teacher.

"Well, at least history won't be too boring this year," Eren whispered to the two next to her. "With a teacher like her, I doubt anyone would be able to fall sleep here."

The other two agreed and then focused on what the excited woman was saying. For the rest of the period, Mrs. Jones went over the rules and expectations for her class, all while pacing the room and switching from calm lulls to excited outbursts. By the end of the class, most of the students were exhausted just listening to the hyperactive woman and many of them were whispering their theories of what she must be on to make her so erratic.

"Oh! And before I forget, if I see any of you falling asleep in my class, I won't give you detention," the woman continued, much to the shock of the students. Many of the lazy students were hopeful until her next words, "instead I'll take one of my markers and draw on your face! And don't think I won't do it, I've done it before and I'll do it again!"

When the bell finally rang again, the class quickly filed out, half of them energetic from Mrs. Jones teaching, the other half was struggling not to collapse.

"How does that woman have so much energy!" groaned Eren, as the three of them walked the flooded halls towards the cafeteria. "I swear, all her bouncing around the room made me tired just looking at her! It's like she leeched all the energy out of me for herself."

"I don't know, I kind of liked her teaching style. At least we didn't get some old lady just droning through her lessons and boring everyone to death," Mikasa said, sticking close to Eren as usual.

"She seems like one of those teachers who like to make the subject interesting and like you said Eren, at least history won't be boring," Armin agreed. As he walked, Armin was struggling to keep his heavy bag from crushing him.

"Armin, what do you have in there?" Eren asked, noticing her friends struggle.

"Well, my advanced classes have bigger books and I brought extra paper and pencils just in case," Armin rambled.

"Do you need any help with that? It looks like that bag is trying to break your back," Mikasa said, concerned.

"No no, I-I'm fine. Just gotta get used to it, that's all," Armin huffed, sweat beading on his forehead. "Besides, I won't be able to walk with you two all the time so I have to carry it myself."

"If you say so…" Eren muttered, dropping the subject. She knew Armin wouldn't accept help from them, but it didn't hurt to ask.

The three friends made it to lunch and quickly picked up their trays of food. They found a table where most of their friends were already sat, eating lunch and bickering with each other like normal. When Eren took her seat, she started wolfing down her food, suddenly famished.

"Slow down, Eren! You'll choke if you keep eating like that!" gasped Mikasa, appalled by her friend's messy eating habits.

"Miss bweakfast," she managed to spit out around a bite of her sandwich.

"Ew, don't talk with your mouth full, Jaeger," Jean remarked, nose wrinkled in disgust. Next to him, Marco tried to send a warning look to his best friend but the message clearly wasn't received. "You know, you and Sasha kind of look like twins right now!"

"Eh?" Sasha said, focusing her attention away from her already half-eaten lunch when she heard her name. Similar to Eren, Sasha had stuffed her food in her mouth and left quite a mess all over her tray and face.

Connie rolled his eyes. "Don't worry about it, Sasha, just eat your food."

The girl shrugged and returned to her meal happily.

Mikasa sighed and wiped her napkin across Eren's face, removing the food that stuck around her chin and mouth. Eren's scrunched up her face as the napkin rubbed her skin raw.

"'Mm'kasa, ge' off!" Eren mumbled, swiping at Mikasa's hand to pull it away from her face. "You'll ruin my make-up!"

Mikasa sat back and put her napkin on her tray. "I wouldn't have to do that if you actually ate like a normal human being."

"I'm hungry, okay? I didn't get any breakfast!" Eren defended. She went back to her food, but a bit slower this time. She definitely didn't want her face to get attacked again.

"And whose fault was that?" Mikasa scolded. "If you had gotten out of bed on time you would have had breakfast and you wouldn't have missed the first three periods."

"Is that why you weren't in class, Eren? You slept in?" Krista asked from across the table. Her angelic face held concern and interest. By her side, sat Ymir, her possessive and protective girlfriend.

Eren remembered to swallow her food before speaking. "Yeah, my alarm didn't go off but my mom came back home, woke me up, and hauled my ass to school. Honestly, I probably would have skipped the whole day if Mom didn't come back for her phone."

"That's gotta be a new record for you, Eren. Late on the first day of school," Reiner butted into the conversation, a smirk on his broad face. "Usually it takes at least a week for you stop caring enough to make it here on time."

"I don't know what you're talking about; I'm never late to school. I'm a perfect angel you know," Eren said, haughtily crossing her arms and sticking her nose up in mock contempt.

"If Jaeger's an angel, than I'm a two-headed dragon," horse-face snorted.

"Well a two-headed dragon's probably better than being a horse," Eren shot back. Everyone at the table groaned, knowing that once the two of them got started, they wouldn't stop until one of them was pulled away.

The insult war began and shots were fired rapidly from both sides of the table. During a lull in the fight, Armin decided to stop the argument and bring up the one thing Eren was trying to forget about.

"Eren, you never did tell me why you looked so down in the hall earlier," he said, picking at a salad with one of his books sitting next to his tray.

Eren froze and her lively expression quickly deflated, her shoulders slumped, and her appetite suddenly vanished. Mikasa frowned at the quick change in atmosphere and the rest of the table stopped their conversations to listen. The only ones who didn't seem to give a damn were Ymir and the ice queen, Annie.

"Why were you upset in the hall, Eren?" asked Mikasa, in a motherly tone.

Eren sighed and glared at her best friend. "You couldn't have waited 'til we were alone?" she muttered, glowering murderously at the innocent look on Armin's face. She knew exactly why he decided to bring it up now; this way she couldn't find some excuse not to tell him because Mikasa definitely wouldn't fall for that crap.

"It's nothing alright, don't worry about it," Eren grumbled half-heartedly.

"Eren, whatever was going on with you wasn't nothing. You looked like someone just died right in front of you," Armin said.

Eren frowned at that. Surely, she hadn't looked that pathetic while her heart was being ripped out? Course, she was never one for hiding her feelings.

"Come on, just spit it out, Jaeger. They won't stop badgering you until you talk," Jean added, seeming unconcerned by the conversation.

"We just want to help, honestly. If there's anything you want to talk about, you should be able to rely on your friends," said Marco with a kind smile. Of course Marco had to say something so sappy.

Eren sighed again and shifted uncomfortably in her seat. She mumbled under her breath, so low no one could hear her words.

"Eren, stop acting like a child and speak up," Mikasa insisted, growing tired of her evasion tactics.

"I saw Levi this morning, okay!?" Eren finally said, dismally thudding her head against the table.

The table was silent as they absorbed this information. From her position against the table, Eren saw many of their heads turn, no doubt staring across the cafeteria where Levi was currently eating with his friends.

"I don't understand, Eren. I thought you'd be excited to see Levi again," Armin said, frowning at his best friend.

"Yeah, I figured you'd be practically sitting in his lap by now," Ymir snickered.

Eren's face heated uncomfortable as she lifted her head to glare at what she considered to be the freckled devil.

"I would not be sitting in his lap in the middle of school! I have more dignity than that!"

"Right, you'd wait 'til you got home to do that," shot back Ymir, in a snarky voice.

Eren rolled her eyes and slumped back down on the table. "It doesn't matter anyway. He either doesn't remember me or doesn't recognize me as a girl. Either way, it's not a good situation."

"Did you tell him your name?" Mikasa asked, having remained quiet until then. It was no secret she still disliked the ex-Corporal, but her close bond with Eren outweighed her animosity…most of the time.

"No, I didn't get the chance to. I bumped into him in the hall and he just snapped at me and walked off. I was too stunned to really do anything," groaned Eren.

"Well, how about you try talking to him without doing anything to set him off? He might listen if he's a bit more calm," Krista recommended, always wanting to help her friends.

Eren jolted her head up, startling the friends next to her.

"Of course! I'll just talk to him again and introduce myself! He didn't really get a good look at me the first time anyway, so of course he didn't know I was me!" she exclaimed, the fire in her eyes rekindled at the prospect of doing things over with Levi.

"There's the spirit!" Reiner laughed. "Though honestly, I don't know how he didn't realize you were Eren, I mean, you practically look the same! Just longer hair and more curves."

"Reiner, is this your awkward way of hitting on Eren?" asked Annie stoically, not really caring about the answer.

"Eh? What?! No! I was just making a point!" Reiner argued, trying to hide his red face.

Eren just rolled her eyes. She was too used to this kind of behavior to let it bother her, plus she knew her friends were just that—friends.

"Are we done talking about me now?" Eren asked, eyes roving over her friends as she went back to eating her lunch.

"I don't know, are we? Do you have any other concerns to tell the table," said Armin, gesturing around the table. Eren rolled her eyes again. How did she become friends with such dorks?

"Yes, I'm sure, just return to your meals and ignore my break down," Eren insisted, causing a snicker to run around the table before regular conversation started up again.

Eren shouldn't have reacted so overly dramatic honestly. She knew she could get a bit ahead of herself at times (actually it was more like all the time) but at least she had her group to ground her when she needed it, and after her encounter she definitely needed it. If she hadn't voiced her concern, she probably wouldn't just spiraled into a brooding mood until she could pull herself together and do something about it. At least now she had the confidence to go after what she wanted.

And right now, what she wanted was sitting across the room with his back to her. Eren glared at him.

 _Just wait, Levi, I'll show you I'm still the Eren Jaeger you fell in love with._


	3. Chapter 3

**I'm sorry for the slow updates. Usually I like to upload once a week, but because I'm also doing another story as well, it's making things a bit more complicated. But I hope you all enjoy this next chapter and I greatly appreciate reviews! Even if they're just saying you like the story ^.^**

* * *

While Eren sat and talked with her friends, across the cafeteria a certain black-haired boy sulked at his table, his back to the scene and his face staring at his tray of slop in distaste.

"Aren't you going to eat?" Isabel asked, her mouth full of fries. Levi cringed and slid his tray to his adopted sister, knowing exactly what she was going to ask next.

"Would you mind closing your mouth? It's disgusting," the raven said, scowling.

Isabel tried to quickly swallow her food so she could speak but ended up choking and sputtering. Farlan smacked her on the back and she spat out the piece of food out onto her tray.

"Thanks, Farlan," she rasped, her throat sore.

"Maybe try not to inhale your food, Izzy," the blond boy recommended.

Levi made a noise of utter disgust and scooted closer to the edge of the bench and away from Isabel.

The rest of their friends were watching the scene in amusement and making comments to Levi and Isabel, but one of them was remaining strangely quiet and watching the group of freshmen a few tables away. Their energetic brown eyes were locked on Eren and their face was twisted in confused concentration. They had only seen brief flashes of her face, but the girl with the long brown hair was definitely familiar and it was nagging at Hanji terribly. It didn't help that she knew everyone else at the table, except for that girl…

"Hanji, what are you staring at?" Erwin asked them, trying to follow their gaze but a second later they snapped out of their trance and turned to him, returning to their cheery self.

"Oh, it's nothing, I thought I recognized someone but I guess I was wrong!" they laughed, stuffing bits of salad in their mouth. Erwin frowned but shrugged and went back to his meal.

After a moment, Hanji went back to staring at the girl, failing to hide the mischievous grin on their face. Oh, this was very interesting, but now the question was to tell? Or let events unfold on their own and maybe throw in a bit of fun later on?

Knowing exactly which option they were going for, Hanji smiled wildly and didn't bother keeping it from the rest of her table, who noticed their creepy grin but chose to ignore it. It was Hanji after all.

"Judging by your increasingly terrible mood, I'm going to guess Eren decided not to show up today," Erwin remarked.

Levi's face soured as he glared at his friend. "Shut it, Eyebrows."

"I'll take that as a yes," the blonde said, nodding.

Levi grumbled something incoherently under his breath. Yes, it was true, he hadn't seen the damn brat all morning and he even scanned the cafeteria three times over in search of him. Of course, Levi just had to get his hopes up only to be sorely disappointed. When he's finally reunited with Eren, his giving that bastard hell for making him wait.

"Hey, is it just me or is that girl staring at us?" questioned Gunther, eyes trained over Levi's shoulder.

The rest of the table turned and Levi looked over his shoulder and into bright blue-green eyes. His heart jumped for a moment until he realized the eyes didn't belong to a boy, instead the two sat in the pretty face of a brown-haired girl, sitting at a table full of freshmen, all of who Levi recognized but that girl.

Realizing she was being stared down by the irritated senior, her face flushed and she quickly turned looked down at her tray, her long tresses slipping down to cover her embarrassment. Levi rolled his eyes and turned forward again, already forgetting the event.

"Probably just another Levi fan girl," Petra remarked, trying to hide her possessiveness. Everyone saw right through her though.

"How do you know she was looking at me?" Levi grumbled, picking his food.

"Trust me, Levi, she was staring you down. You know, before you turn your frost glare on her," tease Isabel. "You probably scared the poor girl."

"Good, maybe she'll learn it's rude to stare," Levi replied, coldly. "Something Four Eyes here still hasn't learned. What the hell are you looking at?"

"Hm? Oh, I'm trying to figure out where I know that girl from. She's strangely familiar, wouldn't you agree?" Hanji prodded, folding their hands and leaning their head on their fingers.

Levi frowned and looked back over at the girl. He did get a nagging feeling looking at her, like he did know her from somewhere, but the where of that statement still eluded him. It wasn't until he saw her reaching for an ugly paw-print backpack did he remember.

"Huh, guess she is familiar," he said, turning back. Hanji's eyes lit up in excitement until his next words. "She ran into me in the hallway this morning."

"Did she happen to say anything or…" Hanji prompted.

"No, she just stared at me like a moron. Probably finding the right words to yell at me after I knocked her down," Levi replied, growing bored of the topic. What did it matter to Hanji anyway?

"You pushed a girl, Levi? That's not very like you," said Farlan, frowning.

"I didn't push her, she fell over when she ran into me. Stupid brat wasn't looking where she was going," Levi explained.

"Maybe she was plotting how she was going to get back at you when she was staring," Eld joked. A few others agreed with a chorus of snickering.

Hanji hummed to them-self. This was definitely going to be harder than they imagined, but they were really surprised by Levi's thick-headedness.

"She's kinda pretty though, don't you think?" pressed Hanji, insistently.

Levi shrugged, showing he was done with the conversation. The girl was somewhat attractive, and if Levi was actually in to women he might have thought about asking her out. That was about it, though. There really wasn't anything too special about the brown-haired girl.

The bell that ended lunch period rang out and students hurriedly finished up their lackluster meals and dumped their trays before herding out into the hallways for fifth period.

* * *

Eren was following after her friends but still kept some space between them. She really wasn't in any mood to talk while she planned out how to approach Levi. It was almost certain they didn't have any classes together and she wouldn't have much time after school before Mikasa would drag her home. Maybe she could catch him in the halls?

The rest of the day seemed to drag on for the young brunette. Her mind was so preoccupied with coming up with her plan that she ignored most of what her teachers were explaining to the class. This resulted in some scolding to pay attention even though they hadn't even started any lessons. It was all just introductory stuff, so Eren thought she could focus on something much more important to her.

Eren did learn two things when it came to her last class of the day, English. For one, the teacher could only be described as pure evil. Her name was Mrs. Fangman, but most of the students called her Fang because of her reputation as the toughest and scariest teacher in the school. By the end of class, she had made half the students practically wet their pants with her lecturing on the rules and how grueling and difficult her class was going to be the rest of the year. Eren could almost see the devil horns poking out of her perfect blond hair.

The second thing Eren learned only made the class that much more awful and exciting; Levi was the teaching assistant. He sat at a lone desk in the back of the room, reading a book and scarcely paying any attention to Mrs. Fangman. Eren sent glances at him throughout the entire class but not once did he look up. His desk was close to the teacher's, so when she went back to sit and wait out the last three minutes of class, the two of them started a conversation. Considering Fangman was talking to him like a normal human being instead of drill sergeant, he was probably one of her favorite students.

When the final bell rang and students were desperate to leave, Fangman spoke up.

"Oh, and I almost forgot to mention. I want you all to write at least one page about what you did over the summer for us to present in class tomorrow. I expect decent spelling and grammar for this as well, you will be graded! Now you're dismissed." Fangman sat back down and waved them off, groaning and complaining. Homework on the first day? This woman truly was Satan.

While all the other students were hurrying to get away before Fangman remembered something else, Eren lagged behind. She took her sweet time packing away her bag and fixing her skirt. She was waiting for Levi to leave but it was apparent he was staying behind to continue his talk with the teacher, Eren gave up and left, but she wasn't going to let Levi go that easily.

Eren stood outside the school doors, waiting for her ride and waiting for any sign of Levi. She was about to lose hope when out of the corner of her eye, she spotted a flash of black hair and scowling expression. Levi leaned against the tan stone of the school and pulled out his phone. Eren saw her opportunity.

Mustering her confidence and taking a deep breath, the brunette stood tall as she walked to her crush. Despite her determined face, her hands were tightly gripping the straps of her bag and her heart was thudding rapidly against her chest.

She stood beside him and search for her words but he beat her to it.

"You've been staring at me all day, brat. If you have something to say, spit it out or go the fuck away," he said, in a monotone voice without looking up from his text.

Eren froze and gulped. She really should have prepared better.

"I, um, I just wanted to apologize for running into you earlier and for…all the staring," she muttered, looking at her shoes. When she looked up again she flinched at the cold glare he was giving her.

"Apology accepted," he said, blankly.

Eren blinked and stood there awkwardly. Was that all he was going to say?

"Well, um, are you waiting for someone? Maybe I could keep you company until they get here. Actually, I don't think I ever told you my name huh? It's E—."

"Look, I'm going to stop you there," Levi interrupted, finally putting his phone away to glare directly at Eren. "I'm not interested, alright? I don't care who you are, or who you think you are, and I have no intentions of getting to know you. I don't appreciate being bothered by some teary-eyed little girl who has some misplaced crush on me, got it? I don't even like women, so I'm not going to magically turned straight just because you happen to like me. Besides all of that, I'm already taken. Now, why don't you do us both a favor and get over it."

Eren just stood there, shocked to her core with tears starting to form in the corners of her eyes. She could feel what was left of her heart shattering into tiny pieces, any trace of hope being wiped out in the aftermath of the explosion in her chest. He simply continued to glare at her, no remorse for the cruel words that had just spilled out of his mouth. That's what made the brunette lose it.

"Who ever said I had a crush on you?! I was just trying to be polite and introduce myself and you just had to act like an egotistical asshole! You know what? GO FUCK YOURSELF!" Eren screamed at him before she stomped away towards the parking lot, where Mikasa and Armin sat waiting in a small beat-up car, with Mikasa behind the wheel. The friends had patiently waited for Eren to finish talking to Levi, well Armin was patient; Mikasa was glaring at the raven-haired boy with obvious distaste. When she saw Eren yelling and the look on her distraught face when she turned, it was enough to thin Mikasa lips and narrow her gray eyes. If that midget hurt Eren, she'd be damn sure to make him pay.

Eren climbed into the backseat of the car without a word, but speaking wasn't necessary. The outcome of her confrontation was written all over her face.

"Eren…are you okay?" Armin asked hesitantly, turning to give the girl a sympathetic look. Mikasa started up of the car and drove away from the school, sending a death glare at the midget still leaning against the wall.

"I-I'm fine…" Eren replied, sniffling. All her previous rage had faded into empty depression. She quickly wiped away her tears before her friends could notice, but they could obviously tell she was crying

"What did that bastard say to you?" Mikasa asked through gritted teeth. Her fists were clenched tightly on the steering wheel and her eyes looked as if they could send lightening at anyone who crossed her.

"Don't worry about it…'m fine," Eren mumbled, her head hanging and her hair covering her face.

"That bad huh?" said Armin, his blue eyes full of sadness for his friend. He knew how much meeting Levi again meant to the brunette.

Eren shuddered out a shaky breath and nodded. When it came to her friends, Armin was always the one to make her lose her composure when she was trying to be tough. With Mikasa she could do it easily because her black-haired friend was always being overprotective and nosy, which seriously annoyed Eren. Armin, on the other hand, was gentle and patient when Eren had problems and she always fell apart because of it. How could she be angry or annoyed by Armin?

The floodgates opened and Eren started sobbing in the back seat of Mikasa's car. She couldn't hold back anymore especially with how awful the experience had been. Eren hated crying in front of others—she had too much pride for that—but she was only human. Through the waterworks, Eren chokingly explained what happened after she walked up to Levi, while Mikasa and Armin silently listened. Armin kept his comforting gaze on Eren and even reached back to hold her hand when she told them Levi's awful words. Mikasa continued to drive with her eyes forward, but it was obvious Eren's story was effecting her. There was definitely going to be hell to pay when she got her hands on that short bastard…


	4. Chapter 4

Levi went back to staring at his phone after that girl's outburst. He could feel slight remorse for having said those things to her, but he truly was in no mood to deal with an over-emotional bitch. His day had been absolute shit and it had only worsened throughout the day. The only good moments had been in his teaching assistant period where he had one of his favorite teachers, Fangman. The woman was the devil in a sundress and heels but with English being his best subject, Levi was always on her good side. There was that, and they both had a twisted, demented sense of humor. Her class was the only one he had to look forward to.

Of course, even that bit of sanctuary had to be ruined by that damn girl because he could feel her eyes burning holes into him when he wasn't looking. Of all the places she could be, it just had to be in the only class he could tolerate!

Levi's previous irritation quickly outweighed his regret earlier. That girl deserved it honestly. She needed to leave him the fuck alone, especially when he was already annoyed.

Yes, Levi was still very much aggravated that Eren hadn't shown up at school that day. He'd waited for years to see him and on the day they were supposed to get back together, that damn brat sleeps in and misses it. There was tomorrow obviously but Levi was not a patient man and just knowing that under different circumstances he could be cuddling with Eren and catching up on their lives right at that moment, but the universe just had to laugh in his face didn't it?

The boy was jolted out of his thoughts by a loud honk from an SVU sitting at the edge of the parking lot. In the driver's seat was a bouncing and bright-eyed Hanji, next to her was a tired-looking Erwin, and sitting in the back were Isabel and Farlan, who looked like they were arguing about something.

With a sigh, Levi marched over to the vehicle and slide into the backseat next to Farlan. He and Isabel didn't seem to notice because they continued their heated debate over how many clubs they were going to join, or rather, how many Isabel was going to drag the exasperated blonde to. In the front seat, Hanji was chattering about their classes as they drove out of the parking lot quite erratically. Erwin tried to keep up with them but immediately gave up on that and focused his attention on Levi.

"Did you're day get any better?" he asked already knowing the answer based on Levi's expression.

The other three shut their traps when Erwin asked this, and they focused their attention on Levi. The raven-haired boy sighed and rubbed his aching head. He was definitely taking some serious painkillers when he got home.

"No, Eyebrows, it did not get any better. Turns out, I have my assistant period with that brown-haired girl that wouldn't stop staring at lunch. And guess what she did during the entire class? She fucking stared at me. Through the entire. Fucking. Class!"

"Man, you sound like you're about ready to commit murder," Isabel said, snorting in amusement. "What are ya gonna do when she keeps bothering at you?"

"Yeah, short-stack, you can't ignore her forever," Hanji added in a cheery singsong voice.

"Oh, I don't think I have to worry about her anymore. I took care of it," he replied, leaning back in his seat and closing his eyes in an attempt to relax a bit. That plan was immediately thrown out the window when Hanji suddenly screeched out.

"You didn't kill her, did you?!"

Levi groaned and kneaded his forehead. This freak of a friend was going to be the end of him.

"No, shit for brains, I didn't kill her. I just had a chat with her about her staring habits. I probably could have been a bit nicer about it, but I honestly couldn't give enough fucks," Levi growled.

"Since when are you nice about anything, Big Bro," teased Isabel, reaching over Farlan to nudge her brother. Levi rolled his eyes at that. He could be nice if he wanted to; key word being "wanted".

"I hope you weren't too harsh with her, Levi. It wasn't like she was doing anything but making you a bit uncomfortable," said Erwin.

"Well, too late now, I guess," Levi muttered vaguely.

"Why? What did you say to her?" Hanji quickly asked, worry suddenly softening her energetic eyes.

"She came up to me after school and apologized for running into me this morning, which I accepted, but then she started making small talk and there was no way in hell I was going to stand there and listen to her babble on about nonsense while I wait for you so I just told her I wasn't interested and she should just get lost," Levi retorted, recalling the look on that girl's face after he said it. That look was enough to make him regret everything he said and he had been close to apologizing when she blew up and stormed off. Afterward, he didn't regret a single word.

"Levi! Was that really necessary? She was just being nice and you acted like an ass to her!" Four-eyes scolded, far too intense for their usually carefree self.

"Why do you even care? You know her or something?" Levi asked indifferently.

"Yes, I do, and she's a very sweet girl! You should say you're sorry tomorrow," Hanji huffed, her driving was becoming more erratic than usual in her anger.

"I'm not apologizing to the brat, she fucking started it!"

"And apparently you finished it, Levi. I don't really know this girl as well as Hanji seems to, but even I think you were too cruel on her. If she was just being polite was it really necessary to go off on her?" Erwin lectured. He may not be Commander anymore, but Levi still held his advice to high regard. Erwin knew he'd listen to him.

"Fine, I'll talk to her tomorrow and clear everything up, alright?" sighed Levi.

"Hey guys, I got a question," Isabel butted into the awkward silence. "Does anyone actually know this girl's name?"

"I do, obviously," said Four-Eyes smugly.

"Mind telling me, so I know who I'm apologizing to?"

"Nnnnnnope!" They replied giggly. "I want you to figure out her name. And if you three find it out first, keep your mouths shut!"

Hanji glared at Erwin, Isabel, and Farlan, trying to get the point across that they were very serious. The three nodded and agreed, because sometimes Hanji could be just as scary as Levi.

"Good, now who wants to listen to music!" the mad creature cheered, flipping through the radio. Levi groaned and Isabel and Farlan snickered at their brother's reaction. He always hated listening to Hanji's music because it was usually too upbeat and screechy for his taste. It also didn't help that most of it was in a different language.

When Hanji finally dropped the three off at their adopted parent's house, Levi was practically about to jump into the front seat and strangle the pony-tailed freak. He really needed to find a better ride home.

"Don't worry, Big Bro, tomorrow will be a better day!" Isabel said, throwing her arm around his neck as they walked up the front path.

"And don't forget, Eren will probably at school tomorrow as well," Farlan added, patting Levi's shoulder.

Levi's face lit up at that. Yes, tomorrow would be a better day. For now, he could let this day go and forget about that annoying girl.

* * *

When Mikasa finally pulled up to the Jaeger house to drop Eren off, the brunette had finished her recounting of that terrible scene outside the school. Her friends had waited and listened intently despite Eren's inability to talk through a stream of tears. Mikasa had absolutely lost it when Eren relayed what Levi had said. Words couldn't even describe how furious she was but she held it in for Eren's sake. Armin had simply sat and held her hand, giving her words of encouragement when she struggled. They sat in front of Eren's house while she got herself together.

"Thanks for listening, guys," she rasped, her voice rough from all the sobbing.

"Of course, we're your friends, after all," Armin said, squeezing her hand. "And hey, there's always tomorrow right?

"I-I don't know, Armin. If he doesn't want to be with me, I don't think anything will change his mind, even if he finds out my name," the brunette replied, shakily grabbing her bag.

"I think that's a good idea, Eren," Mikasa agreed, nodding. "He doesn't deserve to speak to you like that and he doesn't deserve you."

"But you're just going to give up?" Armin said, frowning. "That's not really like you."

"Weren't you listening?! He said he's already with someone! There's no point in going after him if it hurts someone else," she whimpered, slamming her fist into her bag. Even when she was crying, her temper always made itself known. "Why couldn't I have met him sooner?!"

Armin and Mikasa exchanged looks. They hated seeing their best friend this way, but it really was hopeless if the man of her dreams belonged to someone else.

"Well, you could still tell him your name. Even if you two can't be together you can at least be friends, right?" offered Armin. When it came to emotional problems his best response was a logical one, but when Eren's face screwed up in anguish he knew he'd messed up.

"I can't be friends with him! I'd have to see him every day with whoever he's with and watch him be happy, while I'm completely miserable!" Eren cried out, burying her face in her bag. Mikasa sent Armin a glare, who shrugged sheepishly.

"Listen, Eren, you don't need him. He's nothing but a short asshole who has no respect for you. He isn't worth crying over and you can do so much better," Mikasa announced, harshly.

Eren lifted her head and glared at her close friend. "Of course you'd disapprove. You've always hated him!"

"I hated him because I knew he'd do something like this someday! He doesn't treat you right, Eren, and now you're seeing his real side for a change," the ravenette defended, stiffly.

That was the last straw for Eren. She didn't have to sit there and listen to her friend talk crap on the boy she loved, so without even a goodbye, Eren angrily shuffled out of the car and slammed the door as hard as she could before stomping up the walkway. She ignored the shouts from the car window and quickly unlocked the front door to her house and closing it without looking at the car still idle on the curb. She knew she was going to get a tidal wave of texts later, but for the moment she just wanted to break down in peace.

That evening when Eren heard the door open and close and the sound of footsteps on the stairs, she buried her tear-streaked back into her pillow. She had destroyed her make-up hours ago and most of it was smeared across the sheets and pillowcase. Her mother would give her hell for that later, but at the moment Eren couldn't bring herself to care. Her eyes had run dry from all the crying, her face was caked with smeared make-up, and her hair had fallen from its braid and formed a bird's nest around her head. She felt completely disgusting and she laughed humorlessly at the thought of Levi seeing her this way.

The door to her room creaked up and her mother stepped inside, frowning at her daughter lying in bed, still in her clothes from school and her backpack haphazardly thrown to the side of the room. Carla had expected to come home to her daughter already in her pjs, and watching TV in the living room. Her motherly instincts immediately kicked in and she calmly sat on the edge of the bed.

"Are you okay, honey?" she asked, rubbing circles in Eren's back. Eren mumbled into her bed and her mother frowned. "What was that? I couldn't hear you."

Eren lifted her disgruntled face and said, "No, I'm n-not okay." She slammed her head back onto her pillow, her cheeks red with tears and embarrassment.

Carla's frown deepened. "First day not go all that well?"

"That's an understatement," Eren whimpered. She sat up and wiped away her tears.

"Oh, Eren, your face is a mess!" exclaimed Carla, reaching over for a tissue and wiping at Eren's make-up smudged face.

"Mom! Stop it, I can clean myself up!" Eren protested, batting her hand away. Her mother sighed and finally stopped her attack with the tissue.

"Alright, alright, I'm done," Carla admitted in defeat. She studied her daughters face and continued, "Now, why were you crying and getting mascara all over your bed sheets?"

"I, um, I met someone at school today…" Eren replied vaguely. She didn't know if she wanted to tell her mother the whole story. It had been hard enough telling her friends.

"Okay, and…? Did they say something bad to you?" Carla suddenly gasped and gripped Eren's shoulders. "You aren't being bullied are you?!"

"Wha-? No! It's not like that. I mean, yeah, he said some mean things to me, but he's always been kind of an asshole-."

"Eren! Language!" her mother scolded.

"Sorry, Mom," Eren mumbled. "Anyway, he's never been the nicest person, so I expected that much from him, but I never thought he'd…"

Eren paused to grab another tissue. Once her crying fit calmed down, she tried again.

"You know how I used to talk about Levi?" she said, looking down at her lap.

Carla chuckled at that. "Used to? I recall you raving just last night about how you hope he's at school today and whatnot. Did you not get to see him?"

"No. No, I meet him, and he looks…exactly the same as I remember. It was like…like falling in love all over again," Eren said, a small smile forming on her face.

"Well, I don't see what's wrong then, sweetie," Carla said, confusedly.

Eren sighed and her face fell again. "I remembered everything about him, but he…he didn't even recognize me! He had no idea who I was b-because I'm a girl now! Why did I have to be born this way?!"

"Eren, there is nothing wrong with being born a girl. If he can't accept you for how you are now, then clearly, he doesn't deserve to be with you," her mother said, rubbing her back again.

"That's kinda what Mikasa said," Eren mumbled miserably.

Carla sighed and lifted her daughters to head where soothing gold met vibrant green. "You should never have to change yourself for a boy, understand?"

The teen sniffled and nodded.

"Good. Now, did you actually talk to him? Did you tell him who you were?"

Eren shook her head. "I never got the chance to. When I went to tell him after school, he y-yelled at me and I just got so angry and frustrated that I stormed off. Guess my temper's still getting the way of everything…"

Carla smiled in amusement. Yes, Eren's temper was definitely one thing that hadn't changed. "If he doesn't know who you are then why do you think he won't love you anymore? I'm sure he isn't expecting to see you as a girl so it might have never crossed his mind that you might be different now. Why don't you try having a civil conversation with him?"

"That's what I tried to do! And he just yelled at me like I was a nuisance," Eren sniffled hopelessly. "Why'd I have to fall in love with a jerk?"

Her mother sighed and hugged Eren comfortingly. "I'm sure there's something in him you're attracted too, but I will admit, from what I've heard I have my reservations about him…"

"He really isn't that bad honestly, just when he loses his patience," Eren replied, wiping the last of her tears away. She chuckled suddenly and added, "Guess he's more like me than I thought."

Carla smiled and laughed with her daughter. "So are you going to try again?"

"Yeah, I mean, I definitely can't give up yet, not until he knows my name. If he still doesn't want to be with me then…I'll just cross that bridge when I get there," Eren admitted, clenching her fist at the prospect of having to go through that rejection again.

"Just remember to tell me how it goes, okay? I need to know if I'll need to call his parent's and talk to them," Carla replied in a motherly voice.

"Oh Mom, please, _please,_ don't embarrass me like that! It'll be bad enough if he rejects me, but I don't need you to make it worse," groaned Eren.

Carla laughed and stood up. "Oh, I'm only joking, Eren! You wouldn't think I'd get that involved would you?"

"I wouldn't put it past you," her daughter grumbled, crossing her arms. Her mother laughed again and left the room, saying over her shoulder that dinner would be ready in an hour.

Eren muttered to herself more as she went to the bathroom to clean herself up. She really was a horrid mess. The girl sighed and started scrubbing at her puffy face.

She sincerely hoped tomorrow would be better.

* * *

The next day Eren waited outside the cafeteria on the last minutes of breakfast. She didn't have a very clear plan but she knew she wasn't going head on like she did yesterday. Instead, she was going at a less direct approach and asking one of Levi's friends about it. More specifically a certain glasses-wearing ex-scientist, who would hopefully be helpful.

The bell rang out overhead and the doors blasted open to allow the stream of students to sullenly make their way to class. Eren stood on her tip-toes in search of a bouncing brunette ponytail but when she looked back into the cafeteria she saw her target still standing at their table, talking with Levi and waiting for the flood to die down. It looks like she was going to have to wait.

"Looking for someone?"

Eren jumped at the voice and spun around to see a short, strawberry-blonde girl smiling at her, though she noticed the smile didn't reach her hard brown eyes.

"Petra! Oh my god, it's so nice to see you again!" Eren said, excitedly. She hugged the shorter girl, who was frozen in surprise, and when she pulled back she saw how shocked Petra was. Guess Levi wasn't the only one who didn't recognize her.

"It's me, Eren! Eren Jaeger, remember?" she exclaimed, eyes sparkling. Petra had been one of the few people kind to her back when she first discovered her titan abilities and joined Levi's squad. Eren would always be grateful to her for that, even if they had a few rough patches in their friendship.

"E-Eren?" Petra whispered, astonished and slightly suspicious. "Y-you're…you're a girl?!"

Eren laughed and nodded. "Yeah, kind of shocking, huh?"

"But how—wha—," stammered Petra, shaking her head to clear it. When she'd finally wrapped her head around the situation she looked and Eren and asked, "Does Levi know?"

The brunette sighed and looked down sadly. "No, not yet. I've been trying to tell him, but he keeps brushing me off and getting angry. I'm sure my staring didn't really help but it's kinda hard not to when you found your soul mate after so long."

She blushed at how cliché that last part sounded, getting far into what she was saying, though she meant every word of it.

"I was hoping to talk to him later today, but right now I was actually looking for Hanji," said Eren, turning back to the cafeteria only to find it empty. "Shoot, guess I missed them."

She turned back to Petra, who continued to smile sweetly. "I should probably get to class then. I'll have to talk to them later on. But anyway, I hope we can be friends again, like before! Oh and would you mind not telling Levi about me? I wanna tell him myself."

"Yeah me too! It's really good to see you again," Petra replied brightly. "And don't worry, your secret is safe with me."

Eren sighed in relief and hugged her old friend. "I wish talking to Levi was as easy as talking to you. Then I wouldn't be in this confusing mess."

Petra chuckled, "If Levi was easy to talk to, he wouldn't Levi, now would he?"

"I suppose you're right about that!" Eren agreed whole-heartedly. "I'll see you later okay? Bye!" She added before hurrying off to class before the bell rang.

"Bye!" Petra called back. She remained behind, her smile fading into a frustrated scowl as she stared after her unsuspecting rival. This truly did complicate her plans to seduce Levi into dating her. She was nothing if not persistent, and she was going to make damn sure, Eren Jaeger didn't screw everything up like last time.


	5. Chapter 5 (Finale)

**I just want to thank you all so much for reading my story! Sadly, this story was only meant to be a short story and truthfully this went on much longer than I was expecting. I do apologize if you were hoping for more chapters, but I hope this longer chapter will make up for it. I do plan to write more stories like these (only with a male Eren) in the future though. And I'd really appreciate it you guys checked out my other story Project Titan: Subject Rogue, which will be a much longer story.**

 **Well, enough of my ramblings. Let's get on with the last chapter! Enjoy!**

* * *

Eren's first couple classes remained uneventful, if you count having a paper snowball fight with Jean and arguing with Mikasa uneventful, but as she was walking to her third period, a hand darted out of the women's restroom and forcefully tugged her in. She nearly smacked her head on the doorframe and was about to go off on the girl who nearly gave her a concussion, when she was suddenly attacked by brown hair.

"Oh Eren, it's so good to see you again!" exclaimed the unknown figure, still squeezing Eren against them. When they finally let go and Eren could see their face, her lips pulled up into a bright smile.

"H-Hanji!" she wheezed out, still affected by Hanji's bone crushing hug. "I was actually looking for you this morning, but I bumped into Petra instead."

"Petra?" Hanji repeated, surprised quickly turning to suspicion. "What did she say to you?"

"She just said she was happy to see me again. Well, after getting over the shock of seeing me as a girl, that is," Eren giggled. "But wait, why aren't you shocked to see me like this? And how did you even know it was me?"

"Hm? Oh, I've known since yesterday. I mean, you look exactly like you used to! Except for the girly bits, of course," Hanji joked, waving to Eren's chest. Eren blushed and crossed her arms self-consciously across her chest. "Oh, don't be shy around me, Eren! Now, you said you were looking for me, right? Lemme guess, you want to tell Levi who you are, but you're too afraid he'll reject you, right?"

"Um, well, yeah, but…how did you know?" Eren asked, hesitantly.

"It's pretty obvious, sugar pie. After his little blow up yesterday, I don't blame you for being scared!"

"Y-you know about that?" Eren said, deflated. "Does everyone know?"

"Oh, just his close friends and I'm assuming your close friends, but that's not the point," they said, frantically waving her hands in front of them. They started to pace around the room, eyes intent, and hands behind her back. "The point is we need to find a way to tell Levi who you are without him losing his patience first and completely ruining everything again."

"But Hanji, what if I do tell him and he still doesn't want to be with me? I mean, he…he told me he was already taken…" Eren mumbled the last part, stopping Hanji in their tracks with a confused frown.

"Taken? Levi?" they asked, head cocked to the side. "Levi isn't with anyone."

"He isn't?" Eren squeaked. "But-but he said he was taken!"

"He probably only said that as an excuse to make you leave him alone. Trust me, honey, he's too obsessed with finding you to even think about dating anyone else," Hanji said offhandedly, continuing her pacing again.

"He…he's been looking for me?" Eren whispered, a warm feeling spreading through her while she ignored Hanji's muttering. So, he had been looking for her just as hard as she had been looking for him. And he wasn't with anyone else. That fact alone lifted the heavy weight in her chest.

"So then, all I have to do is tell him and we'll get back together again, right?" Eren said out loud, excitement filling her face. She suddenly hugged Hanji who was stopped once again in their manic pacing around the bathroom. "Oh, I knew talking to you was a good idea! Thank you, Hanji!"

"Thank you? For what, I haven't thought of a plan yet!" Hanji exclaimed, watching Eren rushed to the door.

"I don't need a plan, Hanji, don't you see? All I have to do is blurt out my name and he'll have to listen! We can forget everything that happened yesterday and go back to how it was before," Eren replied, bursting with energy. "Oh, thank you, Hanji! I'm going to go find him and tell him right now!"

Just as Eren reached for the door handle she was yanked back with a yelp and forced to face a crazed Hanji.

"You can't just run off and tell him! Where's the fun in that?!" they said, brown eyes wide with insanity. "No, no, we need something dramatic! It's gotta be amazing!"

Eren sighed; she really should have expected this from Hanji. "But doesn't that seem unnecessary? I mean, I'm just telling him my name. I'm not proposing to him."

"Yet," Hanji giggled under their breath, earning an exasperated look from Eren.

"I just want to talk to him about this. I don't want some big, dramatic reveal or anything, but I appreciate the help."

"Ugh! You're no fun," groaned the ex-scientist. "After being apart for so long don't you think you should have a big romantic meet up?"

"Hanji, I know you know Levi as well as I do, and I'm sure we both know, he won't appreciate making a huge deal out of finding each other again. I mean, we're talking about the guy who deliberately kept his birthday a secret so no one would celebrate it," Eren explained.

"Hm, true, true, but what if we—."

"No, Hanji," the green-eyed girl replied strongly. Hanji sighed and threw her hands up in defeat. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a boy to track down before the bell—."

 _Riiiiiiiing_

Eren groaned and sprinted for the door. "Oh no, I'm going to be late!"

Ignoring the snickering and distant "good luck!" from Hanji, Eren bolted for her final class before lunch. She'd have to catch Levi later.

* * *

Lunchtime finally rolled around and Eren followed along with the rest of the herd toward the cafeteria. She was still contemplating how to go about telling Levi who she was. She went over every possible conversation the two could go through in the hopes of finding the right words to start with, all while she grabbed her lunch and sat down at her table.

"What's wrong with you, Jaeger? It looks like you're trying to take a shit," snorted Jean, flicking a fry at her face.

Eren pulled herself out of her own head and glared at that idiot who had the audacity to interrupt her thinking.

"No, actually, I was trying to imagine you with no teeth," Eren snapped, raising her fist.

"Cut it out, Eren, don't lash out just because you got rejected by that midget," Mikasa said, indifferently.

Eren stared at her in absolute shock and fury. She tried to stutter out a response, but she was so hurt she could hardly form words.

"Levi rejected you? Oh, that's awful, I'm so sorry, sweetie," Krista said, reaching her hand across the table to rest it on Eren's hand.

"It wasn't really a rejection," she muttered, lowering her head. "I didn't even get to tell him my name."

"Tough break, kid, but really, what did you expect? It's Corporal Levi," Jean retorted. Eren simply scowled at him again.

"Why don't you walk up to him and just spit it out? That way he doesn't have time to react negatively," Annie suggested, picking at her food and only half listening.

"That's what I was thinking, but…I don't know if I have the confidence," Eren replied, sadly.

"Eren Jaeger not having confidence? That's like saying birds don't have wings," chuckled Reiner. "Just say fuck it and get it over with. Rip it off like a band aid and deal with the consequences later. Now, that's what the old you would have done."

"As much as I hate to say it, Reiner's right," Ymir added. "You need to put your damn big girl panties on and just get it the fuck over with. That way we can stop hearing you whine about it."

"Well, you were almost nice, Ymir," sighed Krista, patting her girlfriends arm.

"You know what? You're right!" Eren said, taking a steady breath, her green eyes fire lit. "I shouldn't be fretting over this; I've killed dozens of titans! I'm sure I can talk to one boy."

"Oi, brats," came a deep, irritated voice from behind Eren.

The girl squeaked and spun around in her seat to look up into Levi's disgruntled face. He glared at her and she shrunk back in her chair, every ounce of confidence she gained completely demolished.

"Uh, u-um, h-hi?" she stuttered, her heart beating at a hummingbirds pace.

Levi sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets and looked away. "I just wanted to apologize for what I said yesterday. It was rude and I shouldn't have said it so harshly."

When he turned back to her, Eren gulped and tried to understand his words. Her mind was a bit like mush at that moment.

"I, uh, I'm…"

"You accept my apology or what brat?" he said, staring at her in annoyance. Everyone at the table glared daggers at him, even the ones who didn't particularly like Eren.

"Oh um, yeah, I-I accept your apology," Eren muttered, looking down. She took a deep breath and looked back up again.

"Good, 'cause Hanji's getting on my last nerves about what I said," Levi said, suddenly he looked around the table and said, "You brats are friends with Eren Jaeger, right? Next time you see him, mind telling him I'm started to get annoyed waiting."

Eren winced and the rest of the table stared at her in pity.

"Well, actually—," Armin started to say but was quickly interrupted.

"Levi!" exclaimed another guest to their table. Petra giggled and wrapped her arms around his shoulders from behind. "I've been looking for you! I wanted to talk about our plans tonight but you keep getting away from me." She pouted. "It feels like you're avoiding me."

"Good guess," Levi muttered, shaking off her arms. "Just go sit down, I'm almost done here."

"Petra?" Eren said, in utter confusion. What was she doing here? And what did she mean by "plans"?

Petra looked down at her with an innocently surprised look on her face.

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" she asked, head cocked to the side. She blatantly ignored the shock on Eren's face and instead started tugging Levi backward. "Come on, Levi, I think Farlan wanted to talk to you about calculus or something like that."

Levi rolled his eyes but went with her anyway back to their original table while Petra yammered on. As they walked away, Petra threw a smirk over her shoulder at Eren.

"That two-faced bitch!" Eren seethed, glowering after them. "She was just being nice to me earlier so I wouldn't catch on to her!"

"Wow, I really don't like her," Ymir said.

"You don't like anyone, Ymir," Reiner snorted, rolling his eyes. Ymir glared at that.

Eren seethed in her chair, horrified that Petra would be so cruel. And here Eren thought they could be friends again.

"Don't worry about her, Eren," Marco said, patting her hand reassuringly. "I think it's pretty clear Levi doesn't see her that way. And look on the bright side! At least he's looking for you."

"Y-yeah, you're right," Eren agreed, releasing her agitation with a huff of air. "I just gotta go with my original plan and get if all off my chest."

"That's the spirit!" Reiner hollered, slapping Eren's shoulder and nearly sending her face first into her tray. "Oh, whoops, bit too much, huh?"

"Ya think?" she grumbled, earning laughs from the rest of the table. Lunch went on without incident while Eren devised her plan. It wouldn't be very dramatic or romantic, but at this point, Eren just wanted it done.

* * *

Levi sighed in relief when the bell finally rang for the end of lunch. He had been trapped between Hanji and Isabel's chattering the entire time and while most of it wasn't directed at him, Levi was still annoyed by it. It also didn't help that Petra had become irritably clinging, which was not completely out of character for her, it was still somewhat odd for the little red-head to be so expressively possessive.

The second he heard the bell, he bolted for it, throwing his trash away and quickly making his way to class, grateful that the only person he shared it with was Erwin. The blonde giant may be an ass sometimes but he was definitely better than the three monkeys clinging and screaming in his ears at lunch.

"Why did you run out so quickly, Levi? You left your book on the table," Eyebrows said, sliding his calculus textbook on his desk. Levi glared at it, as if it personally offended him.

"I had to get away from the nutcases. Tell me, Erwin, am I just surrounded by insanity?!" the raven hissed, slamming his head on the wooden surface. Erwin chuckled and organized his supplies diligently. "What did I do to deserve this?"

"Well, you know how Hanji and Isabel are, so there wouldn't be anything you could do about them. As for Petra…I'm honestly surprised she was acting that way. I know she's always had it bad for you but even she's never been that…forward about it."

"Yeah, you're telling me."

"Hm, she might feel threatened with Eren returning," Erwin hypothesized thoughtfully.

Levi snorted. "I've told her a million times I'm not interested in her like that, but of course she doesn't listen. As for Eren…"

"Still no luck with him? What did his friends say?"

"They didn't get a chance to say shit because Petra decided to be a possessive little fuck and pull me away before they could finish," Levi growled. "But I'm tracking them down after class and forcing them to take me to Eren."

"That's a very Levi plan," Erwin replied with a smirk.

"Damn right," he said, lifting his head up in time for Mr. Pixis to begin their history class. Not that he would have missed much with his head down, considering most of the time Pixis rambled on about anything and everything besides the subject he actually teaches. By the end of the year, Levi wouldn't be surprised if he went off to college not knowing a damn thing, like who won the French Revolution or how many people died during the Black Plague. Not that any of that would be important to Levi in the long run.

"Why don't you ask that brown-haired girl? She looks like she could be his sister," Erwin suggested, genuinely trying to help his friend. Normally Levi's foul moods only lasted a day but the blonde was actually growing concerned for him.

"I'd rather drink bleach than deal with another awkward conversation with her," Levi groaned.

"Fine, I guess you'll just have to go with your original plan. Just try not to scare them too badly. If you and Eren do get back together you'll have to deal with his friends too."

Levi rolled his eyes at that, but let the conversation drop. _If,_ there was no if. When he and Eren got back together, then he'd deal with his bratty friends. He could handle a few pissed off children.

It felt like an eternity before Levi was finally hauling his tired ass into Fang's dark and creepy room. Seriously, the woman had some kind of fetish for Halloween decorations because her room was covered with fake cob webs, skeletons, and giant, glittery vampire fangs. If Levi didn't get along so well with the woman (or if he wasn't downright afraid of her) he definitely would have said something about the awful décor.

Giving a great sigh, Levi chucked his bag over the back of his chair and plopped down, completely done with the day.

"Your day not going well?"

Levi looked up and into the curiously, wicked blue eyes of his favorite teacher.

"It could be better," he muttered, not wanting to get into it.

Fangman simply hummed and continued to go through her schedule for the class. As if to ruin his day further, she picked up a giant stack of paper and dropped it on Levi's desk, jolting him out of his stupor.

"I'd like those graded by the end of class. Here's the key," she said, putting one last sheet on top. Levi glared at her, but she merely smirked and shrugged, "You wanted to be my assistant. Don't think just because you're one of my best students that you'll be doing nothing in my class."

Levi rolled his eyes, but set to work on the damn freshmen tests, knowing Fang would gladly keep him after class to finish them. He really should have expected this when he signed up to be her assistant.

When the final bell rang and the students all hushed and waited while Fangman walked to the front of the room. She gave the first student a stack of paper and asked him to pass them around to the rest of the class while she gave instructions for their assignment that day. Levi blocked her out and focused on his own work, at least until a small slip of paper landed on the test he was grading. His head snapped up and he glared at the turquoise eyes watching him nervously before they widened and she spun back around.

The boy let out a huff of annoyance and picked up the note, which had doodles of flowers, hearts, and stars all around it (how original) and carefully opened it as if it were a bomb.

 _Hi_

Hi? That was it? She went through the trouble of passing him a note and receiving his famous death glare, just to say hi?

When the brunette turned again, he stared directly into her eyes before crumpling up the note and throwing it the trash can next to the teacher's desk. Her face fell and she turned back around, biting her lip and looking like she was about to cry. He sighed and went back to his work. Why couldn't this girl leave him alone?!

"Wanna tell me what's got your panties in a twist?" asked the English teacher as she sat back down. She had finished most of her lecture and was now only waiting for them to finish the assignment she'd given them.

"Love sucks," he muttered vaguely. He didn't want to get into the troubles that girl was causing him. He'd rather not think about her anymore.

"Ah, so that's what this is about? So who's the lucky guy?" No surprise she knew his sexuality, it wasn't exactly a secret.

"He's a kid I used to know and we were supposed to meet back up after being away from each other for so long, but the damn brat keeps ditching school," he growled, digging his red pen into the paper.

"Hm, it has only been two days. Maybe something came up and he hasn't been able to make it yet?" she offered.

Levi shrugged. "Maybe. I'm going to talk to his friends later and get them to take me to him."

Fang laughed at that. "Demanding and straightforward, how appropriate. And my coworkers wonder why I actually enjoy you in my classes."

"Because I'm just as cynical and cruel as you?"

"Couldn't have said it better myself," Fangman laughed, nodding her head and bobbing her blonde ponytail.

The rest of the class went smoothly, much to Levi's relief, and he managed to mark the last paper with five minutes to spare. The bell rang and the student's scattered, including the timid brunette. Levi quickly packed up and followed them out, wanting to catch Eren's friends before they left.

"Good luck, Levi!" Fang called after him. He nodded to her and headed out.

"Oi! Ackerman, Arlert!" Levi called after them but refusing to run. The two freshmen stopped and waited for him to catch up, one glaring with the intensity of wild panther and the other watching with weary blue eyes.

"Need something, shorty?" Mikasa asked, coldly.

Levi scowled but let it go. "I want to talk to Eren, and I'm not leaving until I do."

The two exchanged a look, as if they could communicate with their eyes, before Mikasa sighed and grumbled out, "Fine."

Armin turned to Levi and calmly said, "We'll let you talk to Eren alright? But first we'd like you sit over there."

The blonde boy pointed to a set of benches underneath the few cherry blossom trees on campus. Levi grimaced at the idea of sitting on those filthy things but when Armin refused to continue, he sighed and went to sit down, throwing his bag unnecessarily hard next to him.

"Alright, now we'll go get Eren," Arlert said, satisfied.

"Wait, you're just gonna leave me here while you go off somewhere? No, I want to come with you," the boy insisted.

"If you're going to be a baby about it, then I'll stay here with you. Go ahead, Armin," Mikasa grumbled, leaning against the back of the bench but refusing to sit. Before Levi could protest again, Armin was gone, rushing back towards the school.

"Why's he going back to the school?" Levi asked, glaring after him.

"Don't worry about it," the ravenette said, picking up her bag and beginning to walk away. "See ya around, midget."

"Thought you were gonna keep me company?" snorted Levi, finally getting comfortable on the bench.

"Nope, can only stand you for so long. Don't worry though, Eren should be here soon." And with that, she was gone, disappearing into the busy parking lot.

The raven-haired boy muttered complaints to himself, thinking he'd been tricked by a couple of brats, when suddenly someone sat down next to him. When Levi looked up hopefully, he was sadly disappointed to see the green-eyed annoyance that had been haunting him for the past two days.

He was about ready to leave when a forceful, yet slim hand stopped him and pulled him back down.

"Just sit the fuck down and listen alright?" she said, her body rigid and her face set in hard determination. Levi stayed and watched her suspiciously. The girl took a deep breath and continued, "I know I've been a bother for you the past couple days, and I'm sorry for that, but I haven't had the opportunity or the nerves to tell you everything that I need to get out."

She relaxed slightly in her seat, her shoulder's slumping. "Honestly, it hasn't exactly been the best two days for me, either, and this really wasn't what I was expecting when I imagined us meeting."

"What are yo—."

"No, I've only got a few more things to say and I'm done," she cut in, effectively silencing the boy. "After that you can decide whether you want anything to do with me or not. I won't…I won't pressure you anymore after this…"

Levi stared into her eyes, waiting for her to say what she needed to say. He had to admit; when he was fuming with anger he couldn't actually appreciate how pretty her eyes were...

Wait what? Where the hell did that come from?

The boy shook his head and focused back on what she was saying while also trying to forget that random train of thought.

"Despite what I tell my friends I really don't have the confidence to say this out loud without freaking out so I wro—."

"Levi!" shouted a high pitched voice happily. In a split second, Petra was there, flinging herself across Levi's lap and wrapping her arms around his neck. "Aren't you coming over to watch movies with us?"

The brunette opened her mouth to snap at Petra when the red-head was suddenly yanked out of Levi's lap by two aggressive seniors.

"Oh no, you don't! You're not messing up this touching reunion!" growled Hanji, dragging the shorter girl away.

"Yeah, let Big Bro be happy and stop being a jealous shrew!" agreed Isabel, uncharacteristically furious.

Levi and the girl sat and stared at this bizarre scene while Petra was being dragged away, literally kicking and screaming, by Hanji and Isabel. Standing next to a black SVU was Erwin along with Farlan, Auruo, Eld, and Gunther, all watching the three in varying shades of disbelief and embarrassment.

"Thanks for that, Hanji," the brunette muttered, thinking Levi couldn't hear her, but when he raised an eyebrow at that she only blushed and went back to fumbling with her bag.

"Anyway, I just want to get this over with and give you this," she rushed out, shoving another slip of paper in Levi's hands. It had the same enduring drawings on it and just as Levi went to unfold it, she stopped him with shaking, delicate hands. "W-wait, I want you to open it later, when I'm not around. Like I said, I'm too nervous to tell you in person, b-but I left my phone number as well, in case you, ya know, wanted to talk…"

Her voice trailed off as she stood, her head hanging and her hand tight around her bag. She started walking off, towards her two friends waiting patiently for her, while Levi only stared after her in bewilderment.

He looked down at the note and disregarding her earlier words, he slowly unfolded it and stared down at the simple one sentence message.

 _My name is Eren Jaeger._

* * *

Eren kept her face straight and her hands from shaking as she walked away from her love. She hoped he would listen to her and not read the note until later, but just in case he didn't, she picked up her pace, wanting to suddenly be far away from any possible rejection.

Before she had a chance to escape into Mikasa's car she heard pounding footsteps behind her and when she turned around to investigate, two firm, strong hands cupped her face and brought her down to a pair of soft, gentle lips. She frozen for a fraction of a second, hardly believing her dreams were coming true, before she threw her arms around Levi's neck and passionately kissed him back.

When they finally pulled themselves away from each other, they were both breathing heavily.

"You stupid brat," Levi grumbled, resting his forehead against hers. "You really think I was going to let you walk away from me again? After all the shit you put me through?"

"I'm sorry, Levi. I should have just come out and told you yesterday, but I was so scared you wouldn't feel the same way about me anymore, you know, with me being a girl," Eren replied sadly. "Especially after everything you said, I thought for sure you wouldn't want to be with me."

Levi sighed and pulled her into a tight hug. "I'm so sorry for saying that to you, for everything I said to you. You kept trying to tell me and I was being a stubborn asshole the entire time."

"Well, I'm kind of use to you being a stubborn asshole anyway," teased Eren. "Good thing I can be just as stubborn as you."

The boy chuckled and nodded. "Thank god that hasn't changed."

Ignoring the stares from their friends and classmates, the newly reunited couple went back to the bench and sat down, still firmly holding hands.

"So, you really don't care that I'm a girl now? I thought you didn't like women?" Eren asked, leaning against him. Levi wrapped his arm around her and pulled her closer.

"I'll admit, it did come as an unbelievable shock after reading that note, but Eren," he paused to look directly into her eyes, his face resolute. "I didn't fall in love with you because of your body. I fell in love with your hotheaded, immature, bratty personality that never failed to piss me off in one way or another. Considering that past couple days, that certainly hasn't changed."

Eren laughed at that. The weight of their argument and Levi's cold words seem to lift off Eren's shoulders and it was like the last two days never happened. This was how they were meant to meet again. This was a perfect reunion, if not a bit public with all their friends staring at them. And as if they needed to remind Eren and Levi of their existence, they decided it was time to interrupt.

"Ah, that's so cute!" squealed Hanji, tackling the two teens and pulling them into a bone-crushing hug. Isabel quickly joined in the hug while Levi's other friends simple stood by and watched fondly, not wanting to intrude like the other two had. Petra was the only one still by the car, silently fuming at the turn of events. Much to Eren's surprise she saw her group of friends approaching as well and knew this was going to escalate quickly

"Will you get off?!" snapped Levi, attempting to shove off the two girls while Eren simply giggled and hugged them back. "Can't you give us some goddamn privacy?!"

"But we're just so happy for you, Big Bro!" cheered Isabel, when they both finally pulled away, she suddenly gasped and added, "We should go celebrate!"

"No," Levi deadpanned but was completely ignored.

"Hell yeah! Let's party!" hooted Reiner, fully on board.

"Why the hell would we party on a Tuesday, Reiner?" Jean argued.

"If we do throw a little party, I suggest we do it Friday so we can also celebrate the end of our first week of high school," Armin suggested.

"Oh! We can have it at my house, I'm sure my parent's won't mind a little get-together!" Krista offered excitedly.

Levi sat on the bench, grumbling to himself and devising an escape plan. When everyone had turned their attention to getting each other phone numbers and Krista's address, he grabbed Eren's hand and the two of them stealthily made their exit away from the large group of chattering teenagers. The only one to notice was Mikasa, who glared after them, but let them go. As much as she hated to admit it, Levi did make Eren happy, and she couldn't go against what made her happy, but if that bastard tried anything, she wouldn't hesitate to rip him apart.

When they'd made it off the school grounds, they both sighed in relief and kept walking, hand in hand, at a leisurely pace.

"Our friends are fucking morons," complained Levi, rubbing his temple and hoping to ease the oncoming headache.

"Yeah, but they mean well, and besides, a party does sound fun!" Eren exclaimed. Despite her excitement for a party, she was relieved to finally have some time alone with Levi. "Hey, where are we going anyway?"

"I thought we'd go the Little Titan café. I just want a quiet place to talk without Four Eyes ruining it," Levi muttered, and then he became uncomfortable. "Unless you'd rather go home or something…"

Eren smiled and squeezed his hand. "No, I'd love to have a little peace and quiet."

As they walked, the brunette gave Levi a quick kiss, causing a faint blush to form on his pale cheeks.

This was how their reunion was supposed to be, with little kisses and holding hands and just enjoying each other's company. Even though it took some rough patches and quite a few misunderstandings to get there, it just further proved that, despite all the struggles they went through, in this life and the last, they really were meant to be. That thought alone was enough to bring warmth to the two teens' hearts. After all this time, they could finally enjoy their lives together in peace.


End file.
